Secular Democratic Alliance

Not to be confused with Secular Progressive Alliance, Secular Democratic Forces, Secular Proggresive Front (2002-2012), or Secular Progressive Front.

Secular Democratic Alliance ধর্মনিরপেক্ষ গণতান্ত্রিক জোট
Abbreviation	SDA
Leader	Collective leadership
Lok Sabha Leader	Isha Khan Choudhury
Rajya Sabha Leader	Adv. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya
Founders	Dr. Surjya Kanta Mishra Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
Founded	29 February 2024;11 months ago (2024-02-29) (as Mahajot)
Membership (2024)	6,645,398
Political position	Left-wing [A]
National affiliation	Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance
Colours	Red
Lok Sabha	1 / 42
Rajya Sabha	1 / 16
West Bengal Legislative Assembly	0 / 294
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration	6 / 50
Gram Panchayats	5,922 / 63,229
Panchayat Samitis	489 / 9,730
Zilla Parishads	16 / 928
Municipalities	2 / 108
Website
sanjuktamorcha.in
Politics of India Political parties Elections ^  A: The Front is described as a broad left-wing alliance, with centre-left and far-left factions.

Secular Democratic Alliance ^{[1] [2]} or Sanjukta Morcha is a political alliance formed ahead of the 2024 Indian general election in West Bengal by the Left Front and the Indian National Congress in opposition to the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Background

Following the heavy defeats in the 2011 Legislative Assembly election and the 2014 general election, the CPI(M) welcomed ideas of the alliance even with non-communist parties. The first signs came when in the Siliguri municipal election, CPI(M) made some local understanding with INC resulting in CPI(M) leader Ashok Bhattacharya being appointed as the mayor. This success got popularity as "Siliguri Model". ^[6] After the success of the model, in the long run, some Congress and CPI(M) leader advocated for a Left-Congress alliance. ^[7] This gradually materialized into "alliance" between INC and Left Front. The precedence of the Left Front providing outside support to the UPA-I government in 2004-2008 was cited in support.^{[ citation needed ]}

Given the political history of West Bengal, the materialisation of an alliance between the Congress & the CPI(M), 2 parties that have been bitter rivals of each other since the 1970s & have a history of unleashing political violence against each other's cadres, took the political circles of the state by surprise. After much dispute and secession of 2 far-left groups : SUCI(C) and CPI(ML)L, from the Left Front, both Congress and Communists formed an understanding basis of what they called "seat-sharing", strongly objecting to the use of the word "alliance".^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2016, Mahajot ^{[8] [9] [10]} was formed on the broad agreement that some political parties proposed before the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election for fighting against the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal and the Bharatiya Janata Party on national level. Left Front consisting of CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB and DSP along with INC released their respective candidate list in several rounds after consultations and bargaining. ^{[11] [12]} However, the alliance failed to gain the majority seats in the assembly elections. ^{[13] [14]} Afterwards, ahead of 2019 Indian general election, the alliance between the Congress and the Left Front is off the cards as both camps could not agree on a seat-sharing formula for Lok Sabha elections, especially in the Raiganj & Murshidabad seats, where the incumbent MP was from CPI(M) but the MLAs of the constituent legislative assembly seats were mostly from the Congress. ^{[15] [16]}

Subsequently, Mahajot succeeded to Sanjukta Morcha ^[17] in 2021 with the joining of ISF in the alliance. Despite a spirited campaign, both the Left Front and the Indian National Congress drew a blank in the election with a considerable decrease in their respective vote shares. That was the first time when, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly was devoid of any MLA from Left Front or Congress. ^[18] Afterwards, ahead of 2024 Indian general election, ISF decided to contest alone in the Lok Sabha polls due to some differences in seat sharing and marks the end of alliance with Left and Congress. ^[19] Thereafter, Sanjukta Morcha succeeded to LF-INC Alliance ^[20] or Secular Democratic Alliance. On 29 March 2024 hill-based Hamro Party president Ajoy Edwards joined hands with the alliance to take on both the BJP and the TMC in Darjeeling Lok Sabha polls. ^[21] The alliance won only 1 seat (Maldaha Dakshin) out of the 42 it contested.

Members

Party			Flag	Symbol	Political position	Ideology	Leader(s)
	CPI(M)	Communist Party of India (Marxist)			Left-wing to far-left	Communism Marxism–Leninism	Mohammed Salim
	INC	Indian National Congress			Centre-right	Social liberalism Secularism Social democracy Democratic socialism	Subhankar Sarkar
	HP	Hamro Party				Gurkha nationalism Gorkhaland statehood Social democracy Regionalism	Ajoy Edwards
	CPI	Communist Party of India			Left-wing to far-left	Communism Marxism–Leninism	Swapan Banerjee
	CPI(M-L)L	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation			Far-left	Communism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism	Dipankar Bhattacharya
	AIFB	All India Forward Bloc			Left-wing	Left-wing nationalism Socialism Marxism Anti-imperialism	Naren Chatterjee
	RSP	Revolutionary Socialist Party			Left-wing	Communism Marxism–Leninism Revolutionary socialism	Tapan Hor
	MFB	Marxist Forward Bloc			Left-wing	Left-wing nationalism Socialism Marxism Anti-imperialism	Ashish Chakraborty
	BBC	Biplobi Bangla Congress			Left-wing	Bengali nationalism Socialism Regionalism Left-wing nationalism Left-wing populism
	RCPI	Revolutionary Communist Party of India			Far-left	Communism Marxism–Leninism Anti-stalinism	Subhash Roy
	BPI	Bolshevik Party of India			Far-left	Communism Marxism–Leninism	Probir Ghosh
	WPI	Workers Party of India			Left-wing	Democratic socialism [ citation needed ] Social democracy [ citation needed ] Progressivism [ citation needed ]	Sibnath Sinha

Electoral history

Results of Indian general elections in West Bengal

Election Year	Overall Votes	% of overall votes	Total seats	Seats won	+/- in seats	+/- in vote share
2024	6,645,398	11.03	42	1	1	2.02

See also

• Communist Party of India (Marxist), West Bengal
• Left Democratic Front
• Left Front (West Bengal)
• West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee

References

1. "Surjya Kanta Mishra: 'West Bengal Left bringing secular forces together to fight Trinamool and BJP'". Frontline . 12 February 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
2. "Bengal CPI(M) for unity of Left, democratic and secular forces". Business Standard. 8 February 2018.
3. "Lok Sabha Election 2024: সামনে অধীর-সেলিম, রাস্তায় নেমেছে জোট". Anandabazar. 29 April 2024.
4. "Lok Sabha polls 2024: Left, Congress talks on in West Bengal to keep BJP, TMC at bay". The New Indian Express. 19 March 2024.
5. "Sonia Gandhi gives nod to Left-Congress alliance in Bengal". 24 August 2019.
6. "'Siliguri Model': How the Left-Congress 'alliance' was forged". The Indian Express. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
7. "Left-Congress alliance in West Bengal Elections 2016, hinted Left leaders". infoelections.
8. "WB Congress Calls For Alliance With CPI(M), Other "Secular Forces"". The Quint. 29 February 2016.
9. "West Bengal Elections 2016: CPI(M) to take final call on alliance with Congress next week". DNA. 12 January 2016.
10. "CPI-M and Congress alliance to continue in Bengal". The Times of India. 23 May 2016.
11. "West Bengal Assembly Election Left Front Candidate List 2016". Infoelection.
12. "West Bengal Assembly Election Congress Candidate List 2016". Infoelection.
13. Romita Datta (19 May 2016). "West Bengal results: It's Mamata all the way, Left-Congress experiment fails".
14. "West Bengal: Left-Congress alliance weak in arithmetic and chemistry". The Indian Express. 22 May 2016.
15. Soumya Das (19 February 2019). "Left-Congress alliance in a mess".
16. "We're done: Congress calls off alliance with the Left in West Bengal". India Today. 18 March 2019.
17. "With Brigade Rally, Left-Congress-ISF's 'Sanyukta Morcha' Kicks Of Bengal Poll Campaign". Outlook India. 28 February 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
18. "The rise of BJP and fall of leftist and Congress in West Bengal". The Business Standard. 3 May 2021.
19. "Left Front's electoral understanding with the Indian Secular Front falls flat". The Hindu. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
20. "রাজ্যে ফের বাম-কংগ্রেস জোট, আসনরফা নিয়ে লক্ষ্মীবারই বৈঠক সেলিম-অধীরের". Sangbad Pratidin. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
21. "Ajoy Edwards chief of Hamro Party allies with INDIA, Munish Tamang national president of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh joins Congress". The Telegraph. 29 March 2024.